IAPH, Green Award team up to improve Environmental Ship Index

The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) has signed a contract with the Green Award Foundation to administer and expand the formula-based index which rewards vessels for improved energy efficiency and reduced emissions.

The deal covers the management of more than 8,400-strong database of ships and 59 incentive providers already registered on the index.

Under the auspices of the IAPH’s World Ports Sustainability Program, the Environmental Ship Index Portal (ESI) enables ports and other interested parties to incentivize ships to use cleaner engines and fuels with preferential treatment offered either through discounts on port dues, bonuses or other benefits commensurate with a specified level of cleanliness.

ESI is a voluntary tool that includes a formula-based evaluation of vessels’ nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions. The calculation also rewards vessels that are equipped to use available onshore power and which demonstrate fuel efficiency improvements over time, reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) and particulate matter (PM) emissions.

“In partnership with Green Award, we aim to expand the range of potential emissions including greenhouse gases in the calculation and will further enhance the separate noise emission functionality,” Antonis Michail, IAPH Technical Director, commented.

“Right now, the strongest representation we have on the Index comes from the container shipping sector, with over half of the world fleet registered. Tankers (gas, chemical and oil) are also well represented with 28% of the world fleet. The focus will be on growing the number of registered dry bulk and general cargo vessels as well as ro-ro and cruise vessels.”

Established in 1994, Green Award is a global, independent, non-profit quality assurance organisation with the primary task of certifying ship managers and vessels that go beyond the industry standards in terms of safety, quality and environmental performance. The foundation works closely with maritime authorities and classification societies, provides data to Equasis — the database containing safety-related information on the world’s merchant fleet.

Green Award has been a member and incentive provider to the IAPH Environmental Ship Index, having collaborated with the working group since its foundation back in 2011.

“With this agreement with IAPH, we take a step further in accomplishing our vision of driving the highest standards in environmental performance and safety in international shipping,” J.A.A.J. (Jan)Fransen, Green Award Executive Director, said.

“By operating this non-profit certification scheme that assesses ship environmental performance based on continuous improvement, we offer owners and operators further motivation for environmentally-responsible shipping.”

Founded in 1955, IAPH is a non-profit-making global alliance of 170 ports and 140 port-related organisations covering 90 countries. Its member ports handle more than 60 per cent of global maritime trade and around 80 per cent of world container traffic.